


Episode 6: Living the Dream

by Apex3386



Category: Henry Stickmin Series (Video Games)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Depression, F/M, Implied Sexual Content, Pardoned Pals Ending | PP (Henry Stickmin), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Romance, Self-Harm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-09-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:54:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 12,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26272201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Apex3386/pseuds/Apex3386
Summary: Months after the events of Completing the Mission have passed, Henry, Charles and Ellie live together. Charles has spent weeks on a mission and is about to return so Henry and Ellie can join his next one, but while Ellie is more than excited to get in some action, Henry's been feeling different lately, and wants to stay with the one he loves.Henry x Ellie character development
Relationships: Henry Stickmin/Ellie Rose
Comments: 34
Kudos: 99





	1. Chapter 1

Henry and Ellie planned on enlisting into the Toppat Clan before Charles came to stop the villainous operation. Henry and Ellie had been wanted, but Henry didn't want his best friend getting hurt or killed. So he decided that he should team up with the government to stop the Toppats. Plus, he and Ellie figured they could maybe be pardoned for their work, so they went with Charles instead.

Four months have passed since that day. Henry, Charles and Ellie moved in together as they were able to make enough money to buy a fancy house they could share. Charles was currently on a mission, while Henry was relaxing and Ellie was making herself dinner.

"It's really been three weeks now, hasn't it?" Henry asked Ellie.

"Three weeks since Charles last called us? Yeah, I'm starting to worry, I mean he use to call us once a week." 

"I'm sure it's fine, last time he called us he said he'd be super busy anyway, I'm sure it'll be fine." He optimistically said.

"Yeah, now thinking about it, he should be fine." Ellie then heard her phone ring.

"Want me to get that?" Henry asked.

"No it's fine, I got it." Ellie picked up the phone.

"Hey, is Henry there?" Charles asked.

"Charles? It's been a while! We've been waiting so long for you to call us." Ellie replied.

"Ellie, is that you? Oh, I'm so glad you're there! I'm assuming Henry is with you, right?"

"Yeah he's on the couch right now." She replied.

"Oh, cool! Can I speak with him?" Charles asked her.

"He's on his way." Henry went over to the phone to answer his partner and best friend.

"Henry! It's been so long! I know I've been gone for a while, the general had a bunch of work he wanted me to do and I'm really sorry for being gone the past few months. I just wanted to say that I'm done now and the general said he's not going to call me in for work for a few months. Best part is; he said you can both join me on my next adventure when that happens. So, whaddya say?"

"That sounds incredible. You can totally count me in!" Ellie said.

"Awesome! It's gonna be like the old times!" Charles replied. "Well, I've gotta go for now, but I'll be back there tomorrow!" Ellie passed Henry his steak as they went to sit down. Henry grabbed it silently and ate his food.

"Can you believe it? We're gonna go with Charles on a new crime-fighting scene! It's gonna be great!" Ellie exclaimed.

"Yeah... I guess." Henry replied with monotone, putting his dinner down.

"Aren't you excited? Charles is your best friend right?"

"Yeah, but that's not it..." He said sadly.

"What's on your mind? The Henry I know would never say no to adventure, if something's going on you can talk to me."

"It's not that anything is going bad, it's everything being perfect. Living with you has been the greatest part of my life, Ellie. I love spending my time with you. You support my decisions. You've helped me when I needed it and you're always there for me. Waking up every day to seeing you is the adventure now. Ellie... I love you..." Ellie was surprised to hear this.

"Henry..."

"I know, it's stupid... you've been a great friend and I'm fine with that I guess." Henry's expression seemed really down.

"No, Henry, listen to me. You're amazing. You helped me escape the Wall. You've cleared our criminal records and you've been a great friend the past few months. There's nothing more I could ask for, and I love you too."

"Thank you." Henry croaked out as he gave Ellie a hug.

"Are you crying?" Ellie asked as she felt moisture drip down her shoulder.

"I thought you would say no. I was so worried you wouldn't feel the same way as I do, I'm just so happy you do." Henry felt his throat clogging up as he spoke, sinking his face onto her chest.

"It's alright, Henry. You've done so much for me, I love you." Ellie returned the hug.

After a few minutes, the hug broke. Henry and Ellie both bit into the steak she made. Henry felt really happy after what had just happened.

"You know, count me in on that mission Charles is gonna do in the future. I could really go for some action." Henry said boldly. "I'm sure Charles would love it too!"

Henry and Ellie spent the evening together, it was truly the happiest either of them had ever felt. Later that night, they received another call from Charles.

"Hey, Henry. Didn't mean to interrupt you from what you were doing, if you were doing anything. I just wanted to say I just talked to the general about how successful the mission was. I'm gonna crash for the night, but I should be back tomorrow! Hope you guys are doing well. See you tomorrow."

"Thanks, buddy. You as well." Henry said, ending the call.

"You know, it is getting kind of late. We should probably get some shut-eye as well." Ellie told him, getting off the couch. "You think we should tell Charles tomorrow about us?"

"I dunno, I don't really think he'd care either way, and I don't know how I would tell him." He replied. "Anyway, are you going in your room or do you wanna come in mine with me?"

"It's up to you really, I don't mine either way. I mean I guess if you wanna come in my room for the night we can." Ellie said.

"Okay, are you sure you're comfortable with it?" Henry asked.

"Oh, yeah don't worry about it. I actually kind of want to spend the night with you anyway. Just gimme a minute to change." Ellie said as she opened her door. A few minutes later, Ellie knocked on the door to Henry's room.

"Yeah, I'll be out in a minute." Henry said. As he walked out, he gave Ellie another hug.

"I love you, Henry."

"I love you, too, and thank you." Henry broke the hug as he went to lie down on Ellie's bed.

"Good night, Ellie."

"Good night."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, lot of romance, not a lot of much else. For this chapter, I planned on making more character development than plot development. Next few chapters will be different.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, there's going to be less character development, and we're going to get started on the plot. However, character development will still be there. I'm trying to get Charles to know about Henry and Ellie's relationship in this chapter while still getting the plot fleshed out.

Charles woke up extremely early so he could get back to his place to see Henry and Ellie as soon as possible, he didn't think they'd be awake, but he wanted to be early anyway so that his friends didn't have to wait any longer. He figured he'd knock on Henry's door anyway just to see if he was awake.

"Yeah, I figured he'd be asleep. I should probably make some grub, Henry and Ellie might be awake too when I'm done, so I mean it's a way to kill time as well." The pilot muttered under his breath. He was starving anyway, so he looked through the cupboards in the fridge for anything to eat.

"You know, I could really go for some bacon and eggs, I know it's Henry's favorite as well." He grabbed a pan and turned on the stove. As he was cooking, he heard Ellie's door open. He went to go see his friend.

"Oh, hey Ellie! Say... why is your room such a mess?" Charles had a feeling he knew what happened but it was almost confirmed when Henry got out of Ellie's bed as well. "Seriously? You couldn't have done that any other day? You guys knew I'd be back this morning." Henry had no response and just flopped on the couch face down.

"Yeah... I know it was a bit of an awkward timing..." Ellie groaned, sitting down on the chair beside Henry. "Anyway, can we please just change the topic?"

"I'm with Ellie on this one, I mean, we both want to hear how your mission went, you didn't really get a chance to tell us how the last few weeks went." Henry added.

"Oh yeah! It was super cool! The Toppats are apparently still alive after what happened, I guess. I mean everyone who was on the rocket is out of the question, but they seemed to have had a backup plan, we don't know where they're located, but we know it's somewhere near here. We saw a few members running off with gold, we arrested them on the spot and they said that the Toppats will live on, or something like that. The general's gonna try and track 'em down, when he finds them, that's our chance to stop them. You two don't have to join us if you're more interested in the action that happens here." He said with a wink. Henry sunk his head into the chair he was sitting in.

"Charles! What the hell?" Ellie screamed.

"Okay, okay, I was only joking. Anyway, if you guys wanna tag along you can." Charles replied.

"Yeah, I'm down." Ellie said.

"Perfect! We should receive a call from the general when he's ready. He said it's gonna take a few weeks though. I'm on break until we can find them, so I mean if you wanna catch up and make up for all the time I've been gone we could totally do that." Charles informed them as he grabbed a spatula for the eggs, dividing the meal evenly among three plates. "Breakfast is ready, though. I made your favorite, Henry."

"Gee, thanks Charles! Almost makes up for what you said earlier." Henry said with a chuckle.

"Speaking of that, how long have you guys been together, and why didn't you tell me?" Charles asked. Henry once again buried his head.

"Um... last night, I guess." Ellie answered. Charles choking on his food in surprise.

"Wait, you mean to tell me you did that on your first night together?"

"To be fair, it was my idea." Henry said.

"Sorry, it's not my business, I should keep out of it, that being said however, I am proud of both of you and I hope your relationship goes well." Charles replied.

"I mean, Henry's a really nice guy." Ellie said as she sat down beside him, giving him a hug. "I think everything's gonna work out."

"Say, Charles just came back and I totally wanna catch up, I say we watch some movies or something." Henry said.

"Sure thing! You boys pick out what movie we're gonna watch, I'll go downstairs and grab some drinks." Ellie told him.

"You still have that orange soda, right? Because if so you better get me one!" Charles said.

"Already on it!" Ellie gave a thumbs up as she went down the stairs, while Henry looked at all the movies they had.

"Hey, Henry, congratulations." Charles told his friend, Henry looked confused. "You know, you and Ellie. I'm proud, you two are right for each other."

"Oh, yeah. Thanks, Charles, you're a great friend as well. Thanks for getting us out of the Toppat base, by the way."

"No worries! I'm glad I got to meet Ellie as well, you're both really great people and I'm glad I can live with you guys." Charles said.

"What about you, Charles? Is there anyone you want to be with? Anyone you want to start a family with? Ellie and I might not always be here." Henry asked his best friend.

"Well... um, about that, Henr~" Charles' sentence got interrupted by Ellie as she came back up the staircase.

"Hey guys, I'm back!" Ellie said as she passed Charles and Henry each a soda. "You two figured out what we're watching yet?"

"Uh, yeah! Here we go!" Charles passed Ellie the case for the movie, she slid the disc in and sat down. Charles and Henry each opened their cans. As the day went by, the three got caught up on how their lives have been and made up for all the time lost from Charles' mission. Hours went by like minutes, and sure enough, it soon became evening. Charles made them dinner, and Henry had the idea to watch a second movie that night. Henry and Ellie sat together on the couch while Charles sat in one of the chairs, while it got later, Ellie ended up falling asleep with her body leaning against Henry. As the night went on, Charles started to feel tired.

"You know? I'm probably gonna crash now, it's getting pretty late. I dunno what you and Ellie are doing, whether you're going in her room or if you're going in yours. Doesn't really matter to me, and Henry?" Charles' friend turned his head. "Thank you, I had a wonderful night, I'm really glad I got to meet you two." Henry smiled, giving a thumbs up as Charles went upstairs. Henry tried to shake Ellie awake.

"Hm? What is it?" Ellie asked as she squinted her eyes open. "Oh, I fell asleep, didn't I?" She asked.

"Yeah, I mean it's fine, I just wanted you to sleep in a proper place, wanna come in my room for the night?"

"That's a good idea, it's not like there's space for the both of us on this couch anyway." Ellie said as Henry gave her a hand up. When she stood up, she gave Henry a hug and a kiss. "I love you so much, Henry."

"I love you too, Ellie." As they broke the kiss, they walked up the stairs, went into Henry's room, and called it a day.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now we're going to get into the plot, where the trio begins their goal to put an end to the Toppat's contingency plan. Note this chapter takes place four weeks after the last one, as the government has finally discovered their wherabouts.

Charles was flying his helicopter as the wind crackled behind him. Determined to find the criminal base, the young pilot flew swiftly and efficiently to have Henry and Ellie infiltrate the base, and put on end to the Toppat's machinations.

"Woo! Been dying to conquer the airs again with you two!" Charles said with excitement. "It's gonna be great! You two might need these, though." He tossed Henry and Ellie each a device.

"So, we're going to need these to contact you, Charles? It would be ideal to not lose or damage these, Henry. We're gonna need all the help we can get, we're dealing with Toppats." Ellie said as she equipped the earpiece.

"Just drop us off and then we can deal with it from there." Henry said.

"Alright, you want me to drop you off at the same spot or have you split up? Having you guys in the same spot will make your jobs a lot easier, but splitting will probably make it quicker." Charles asked the duo.

"I think working together will get the work done faster, plus if we split up and we lose the other, it's not gonna be good." Ellie answered.

"Alright, I'm gonna drop you off here, don't screw up, I don't wanna be the one arranging your funerals." Charles said as he opened the side. Ellie and Henry jumped out, as they took a glance at the Toppat Fortress. It looked massive, by far larger than the Orbital Station. Henry wondered how it took so long for it to be found.

"It seems we can sneak in, or we can just bust in and hope we can beat what comes our way, what do you think?" Ellie asked Henry.

"Charles, let us back in." Henry told his cohort, Charles opened the door.

"Any reason you two are coming back in?" He asked.

"Yeah, this doesn't make sense, are we just bailing?" Ellie added.

"Charles, do your thing." Henry answered. Charles looked really excited.

"You mean, my plan?" Henry gave a thumbs up to his pal. "Alright, here it comes. This is the greatest plan!" Charles exclaimed as he flew his vehicle towards the base.

"Wait, this was your idea? No way, this is horribly dange~" Ellie was trying to say, but it was too late, Charles had already smashed his copter into the fortress. Upon the violent impact, an alarm blared, having just smashed through the windows, the three had gotten wounded by the fractured glass. The Toppats had all figured out that their base had been raided, the man watching the security cameras called the Toppat leader.

"Uh, chief, we got some bad news, it seems some government agents just destroyed our defences, rammed right through them. What do we do?" The criminal asked, as a man looked at the screen in front of him. Out of rage, he smashed the screen with his metallic arm.

'Henry, you really thought that was it from us?' The man thought. "Let them come, I have some... unfinished business with them." He said.

"Ah, I've *cough* been waiting to do that. It seems we've set off an alarm, we should probably find a way to beat these guys, I mean it's pretty obvious we're here now." Charles said as he got up. Just then, a group of Toppats attempted to attack the trio, but Ellie grabbed two of them and threw them through the massive hole from the impact as Henry and Charles fought the last one in close combat.

"Doesn't seem like we'll be getting warm welcomes from them. We gotta move, the faster we can topple them, the better." Ellie said. "If we get the leader, it should highly decrease the morale of the rest of them."

"There was a main room of the airship where Reginald and the Right Hand Man were. And they were both at the top of the rocket at the orbital station, it shouldn't be too hard to find." Charles added. They ran through the halls, battling Toppat after Toppat, though they always came out on top, the consistent, never ending combat was starting to get to them.

"You think we could maybe take a break? I'm getting pretty worn down." Henry asked.

"Yeah I think we should at least catch our breath real quick." Charles agreed as he sat down. Henry was about to walk over the the wall to lean against it as well, when a Toppat member sneaked behind him.

"Henry! Look out!" Henry turned around just before the criminal behind him went to stab him, when Ellie blocked it, the blade digging through her arm while a crimson liquid glistened from her deepened wound as she collapsed to the ground in pain.

"Ellie, no!" Henry swung at the Toppat, knocking him out as he then went to go see Ellie.

"I'm... fine, I'll live, just gimme a minute." Ellie said as Charles passed her some fabric to tie around her wound to stop the blood from flowing more than it already has. It was killing her, all she could focus on was the intense amount of pain coursing through her body. Still, she had a job to finish, and she's not going to give up here.

"I can still go on, let's do this." She said, getting up and gripping the same knife the Toppat stabbed her with.

"Ellie, you sure? I can call in some reinforcements to take you back." Charles said.

"I'm fine, this is our mission anyway. I don't care what it takes, we're bringing them down." Ellie replied. Henry was really worried about what Ellie just said, he didn't know how he would feel if he lost Charles, but if he lost Ellie, he would break down. Ellie was by far the most important person to him.

"Okay, just please, Ellie, survive." Henry said as he gave her a hug.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine. We'll live through this, and once it's over we'll never have to worry about the Toppats again." Ellie told him.

"Hey, guys. I uh, found a map, this guy seemed to have one. We should check it out." Charles said as he showed the other two the layout of the fortress. "If we keep going this way, do a left turn here and go up the stairs, we should be able to find the Toppat leader, if we can take them out, we'd have control over most of their technology, and we'd basically win."

"Perfect, I'm good to go now, it still hurts but I'll be fine." Ellie told the two.

"Uh, boss. They're coming after you." The man in front of the surveillance screens said through the earpiece. The sound of metal clanging echoes through the Toppat leader's room, he looked at his second in command with an ominous grin. "Boss?"

"Then it's time to end their little game." He said. A few minutes later, the three busted down the door. To their surprise, they knew who this was.

"Hello, Henry, weren't expecting to see us again, were you?" The man said, twirling his mustache with his metallic arm.

"Coming to stop us is the last mistake you'll ever make." the second in command said.


	4. Chapter 4

"But, it can't be, the rocket exploded with you two in it, how are you still alive?" Charles asked.

"Right Hand Man, would you like to do the honors?" Reginald asked his second in command.

"My pleasure, Reg. It would be a lie to say the explosion didn't kill us, however, we had a few remaining Toppats. They built this base for us and brought us in to a doctor who specializes in military grade augmentations. She sounded Russian it seemed, I don't know, I was on a hospital bed with my face being rebuilt. We were able to be brought back, but we had to sacrifice our human bodies, we had very little of us make it through the reconstruction. When we woke, we panicked, we thought we had died and now here we are, in a hospital, my arm, head and legs augmented into a machine and a Russian doctor above us. We were informed of what happened, and of the rebirth of the Toppats, so we got here as soon as possible."

"But, your orbital station has been destroyed. What could you possible hope to do now?" Ellie asked them, Reginald fired his fist like a rocket at her.

"The speeches end here! Right Hand Man, destroy them!" Reginald commanded.

"As you say, boss." He replied. transforming his legs into a jet booster as he grabbed the three. "You three had a death wish as soon as you came here." The Right Hand Man said as he accelerated into the sky. Before they were at a lethal distance, however, Ellie pulled out the knife she had obtained earlier and forcefully stabbed the Right Hand Man, impaling the criminal. His booster died out as they landed on the roof of the fortress. The mechanical Reginald flew up to see the three by the impaled body of the Right Hand Man.

"Sorry... boss... I've... failed you." The Right Hand Man said.

"That's it, you're done." Reginald said as his mechanical eye became a dark red color, and his arm transformed into a laser cannon, placing his foot on Henry's chest. "Any last words, Stickmin?" Reginald aimed the gun at Henry's head, charging it.

Henry thought long and hard about what he should say, this would be the last time he got to see Charles, he wouldn't ever be living his normal life again, and his future he wanted with Ellie was gone as well. It pained him, all he wanted was a way for him to still have that life.

Then, it came to mind, a master plan that would allow that.

'This better work, I doubt it will, but it's the only chance I have.' Henry cleared his throat.

"Better watch your back." Henry announced. Reginald stepped off Henry and turned around. Seeing Ellie and Charles, wounded from the fall and trying to get up. Nothing of importance.

While Reginald was distracted, Henry uppercut the mob boss, grabbed his arm, and snapped in two.

"Agh!" The crippled Reginald screamed, with the Toppat ruler in agony, Ellie and Charles had time to get back up from the fall. Henry turned the gun towards Reginald and fired it. The king of the Toppats countered with a shield. Henry slowly backed down and grabbed the knife Ellie used to stab the Right Hand man with, and threw it at Reginald. It precisely hit his metallic eye.

Reginald was blinded by this, and soon felt Henry tear out the knife to stab him. Reginald coughed.

"I've got to hand it to you. You managed to defeat my Right Hand Man and me. I'm truly impressed." Reginald choked out.

"I don't want to hear it. You disgust me, Reginald." Henry coldly replied. Ellie and Charles got up. Henry gripped Reginald's throat tightly, lifting him off the roof.

"You... you don't have to do this." The Toppat pleaded. "You ca~"

He was interrupted by a gunshot to the head, blasting him off the roof to fall to his death.

Henry finally spoke after hearing the metal corpse of his snap against the ground.

"I hate you."

"Alright, we did it. The Toppats are finally dealt with! We can go back to our normal lives again, the general's going to be impressed." Charles sighed.

"I gotta say, that was intense. At least it's all over now." Ellie said.

"Not on my watch, it isn't! You thought I was gone just because you "destroyed" me? I'm a machine now, basically, and though I can't kill all of you, I sure as hell can get one!" The Right Hand Man said, his eye glowing once more as he got back up as his impaled body grabbed Ellie. "I'm going to die anyway, so I might as well bring one of you with me! You wanna know how painful an explosion is?" He asked, gripping Ellie's throat tightly.

"No! Ellie!" Henry screamed, he just completed the mission he was given and was ready the live his normal life again. All he wanted was to live with Ellie, he was waiting for it, but now there she was, at the gate to death.

"You deserve this. You ever wondered how many people were in that rocket before you destroyed it? How many people weren't even Toppats? Are you truly better than us?" The Right Hand Man asked them.

And then the explosion happened.

Henry was sobbing intensively, he didn't care that he won, he just lost the most important person in the world. Charles ran over to Ellie.

"Henry! She's still alive." Charles said, his best friend ran over.

"We... we did it, Henry, we took them out, we won." She said faintly.

"No! I can't lose you Ellie! I've lost so much, I don't want you gone! Please, Ellie, live!" Henry cried.

Ellie had no response.

The government reinforcements had arrived, Charles and Henry carried Ellie onto the helicopter, and then went in as well. Because most of the Toppat members had already been defeated, the copters were able to get close enough the blow up the remainder of the base.

The ride was silent for a few minutes, before Charles started speaking.

"You know, Henry, you still have me. No matter what else happens, you can always talk to me, you know that, right?" Charles asked his friend. Henry turned his head to Charles, then turned it back at the burned, wounded Ellie, before once again curling up into a ball.

Charles kept trying to boost the morale of his friend, but Henry never responded. His heart had been crushed.

'She was a hero. I don't know what else to tell Henry, though. I feel really bad for him, he seems so broken from this.' Charles thought.

"Charles, there's something I need to ask you." Henry said, Charles was shocked that Henry spoke, as he was being silent the whole time.

"For sure, what is it?" Charles asked his friend.

"A few weeks ago, while we were picking out our movie, I said something about how Ellie and I were probably going to live on our own eventually, and you said there was something about that, what was it?" Henry asked his friend.

"Well, I'm going to be honest, Henry, I don't really want to start a family with anyone, I just want to live with my friends and enjoy my life with them. I kinda just wanted to spend my life with you and whoever you spent it with." Charles answered. Henry was slightly hurt by this, as it reminded him of Ellie once again.

"You mean Ellie?"

"I guess so, I didn't know this would happen, Henry, I'm sorry." Charles said.

"I miss her, Charles, I miss her so much." Henry was crying again.

"I know, but you still have me, I'm always going to be available if you need to talk to anyone." The young pilot said, hopelessly trying to boost his friend's mental state.

"Thank you." Henry replied. About half an hour later, the arrived at the military base that General Galeforce is in charge of.

"General, we took out the Toppat Fortress..." Charles said. Galeforce couldn't help but notice Henry, he was leaning against the wall, facing away from the general, with his arms crossed. He knew Henry wasn't trying to be disrespectful.

"Fine work, boys, but I don't imagine it went well, given Henry's expression, so can you tell me what went wrong?"

'We're bringing Ellie into the hospital to see if she actually is still alive..." Charles sighed. It pained him greatly to say that in front of Henry. "She got caught in an explosion, it wasn't too massive or anything, but she still seems to be horribly injured. It's horrible, Henry and Ellie were in love, they were supposed to marry each other after this." He continued.

"I- I see... Henry, you've done so much in the past, we'll make sure Ellie's our top priority." Galeforce grabbed the microphone.

"Attention, all troops! There is an injured civilian on a stretcher, she is being brought into the hospital, if you are in the medic's way, I expect you to move immediately! This is potentially a life or death situation! I repeat! This may be a life or death situation!"

"Charles. I ask you to stay with Henry until Ellie's out of the hospital. Is this clear?"

"Yes, general." He replied, he went to go find Henry, since he walked away.

"Henry, I'm gonna be sticking with you for now, we should probably stay here until Ellie recovers, we have tents to sleep in if you just wanna call it a day." Charles told him, Henry nodded at the idea of sleeping for the day.

Henry and Charles both went into different tents, Charles had figured Henry probably just needed some space, so he respected that and went in his own tent for the night.

"Good night, Henry." Charles said. Henry gave a thumbs up as he went in his tent, ready to sleep.

It's 3 in the morning, Henry's been tormented by nightmares all night. He can't take it anymore, the pain, the torment, he can't stand it. All he wants is a night where the horrors of what happened that day aren't tormenting him, then he sees the knife Ellie had. He stared at it for what felt like hours.

'If it's the only thing that'll get this off my mind, I'll do it.' Henry thought, as he grabbed the knife, pressed it again his arm.

And violently slashed it as it tore through his flesh, blood emerging from the tear.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously guys, thank you for all the support. I'm really glad you all enjoy it If you have anything you want to say about is, please leave a comment below. Again, thanks for all the awesome support!

Ellie had been in the hospital for three days now. Henry couldn't handle it. Three days of constant fear that Ellie was dying. Three days of not being able to see her. Three nights in which nightmares tormented his dreams. Three cuts boldly engraved in his arm. 

Each night, Henry would wake up after the same nightmare of watching the explosion happen again and again. The only way he could really get it off his mind was by using the knife Ellie had with her and cutting himself with it. He wasn't able to sleep after that from the physical pain but at least it got the mental pain of his mind for a change.

Charles hated seeing Henry like this, watching him struggle was the most horrible thing he had ever seen, and he didn't know what to do. The worst part was he didn't even know Henry was cutting himself.

'I want to see her, I want to her to see me.' Henry thought. 'I just wish she knew how much I wish she's okay.' Henry heard a "knock" on the tent door, it was less of a knock because the door wasn't very hard, though.

"Henry? You alright?" Charles asked.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I guess." Henry answered.

"I know, it's hard, but I have some really good news, Henry. I was told she is going to live, she needs to recover but she'll be fine. No brain damage either, the explosion was way too small for that, it's mostly burns and stuff like that, so her skin may be slightly blistered. But honestly, she's gonna be fine." Charles told him. Henry was very relieved to hear this.

"Really? That's amazing, I was really worried I'd never see her again." Henry sighed.

"Oh yeah, she's gonna be totally okay, she just needs time and she'll be good. Anyway, I got you some food, I was gonna ask you if you wanted to come with me but I didn't wanna bother you or anything." His friend told him, bringing in a plate of food.

"Thanks, Charles. You think I'll be able to see her soon?" Henry asked.

"I hope so, I can only imagine how hard this is for you." His friend replied.

Charles tried to find ways to see Henry as often as possible. Seeing his best friend in this much distress pained him, he's tried in so many ways to help Henry out, and while he knew Henry acted like he had it under control while Charles was with him, he knew that his friend wasn't coping well.

Another week has passed. Henry's nightmares keep getting worse and worse, by this point, he had cuts on both of his arms. His coping methods were horrible, but he didn't know what to do, all he knew was that he wanted to see Ellie again. He knew that he would, but it still didn't change how much he missed her.

Later that evening, he received a call from Charles.

"Hey, Henry. Sorry I'm calling you today instead, I just figured you'd need some space." Charles said.

"It's alright, what did you want to tell me, anyway?" Henry asked him.

"Well, you see, Ellie can't leave the hospital yet, but if you want to talk to her or at least see her you totally can." The pilot told him. Henry was really glad to hear this.

"Thank you, Charles, I've been waiting to hear news like that." Henry said.

"No problem, I'm assuming you want to see her as soon as possible so I'm just going to end the call here. Let me know how it goes." The phone clicked. Henry ran to the hospital as fast as he could, that was the first good news he had heard in over ten days.

When Henry got to the hospital, he talked the the woman at the desk.

"What's your name, sir?" The woman asked.

"Henry Stickmin, I'm here because I want to see one of the patients." He answered.

"I see, which patient?"

"I want to see Ellie Rose. Henry told her, the woman smiled.

"Right this way." She said, she got up and followed Henry to the room Ellie was in, when Henry saw her, he ran over to see her.

"Henry, I'm sorry I haven't been with you for so long." Ellie said, she got up to give Henry a hug.

"It's okay, I'm just so glad you're alive." Henry brushed his hand through her soft, red hair.

"I've been trying to walk again, it's been working... but I still can't do it for long. We're going to let my legs fully healed before I leave, is that okay?" Ellie asked him.

"As long as I get to see you again. I love you so much, Ellie." Henry croaked out.

"I love you too, Henry. I'm so sorry I haven't been with you, I want to, believe me." Ellie said as she tightened the hug. "I'll be okay, just give me a few more days and I'll be fine."

"I'll be waiting for you at home, okay?" 

'Okay, as soon as I'm good to leave I will, I'm going to be alright." Ellie told him, giving Henry a kiss.

Henry then walked out of the hospital, and called Charles, he was going to go home and he was going to ask Charles if he could give him a lift. It took Charles a while to respond, but he did.

"Hey, Charles. I just left the hospital. Ellie's gonna be a few more days and then she's good to leave as well. I was wondering if maybe you can give me a ride home." Henry said.

"Oh, yeah, no problem. I got this." Charles replied. A few minutes later, Charles was there in his helicopter.

"Thanks, bud. I was waiting for you. Sorry I've been reclusive lately, I just needed time to myself." Henry said.

"No worries, Henry, I get it, it's fine." Charles said. Henry went in the vehicle and they went home, the ride took a while, but they eventually made it. Henry took some time to look back at his house.

"Well... home, sweet home, right? It doesn't feel the same." Charles said. "It's just the two of use this time."

"Yeah, it feels... empty, if only Ellie were here. She'll be back in a few days." Henry replied.

"You know, you've been coping with it pretty well, I know it's hard but you managed to deal with it." Charles told his friend. Henry hadn't told Charles that he's been cutting himself yet, so Charles thought Henry was okay still.

"That's not really that true," Henry sighed. "I've been... okay, I might as well show you." Henry rolled up his sleeves, revealing to Charles all the cuts on his arms.

"You've been... no, Henry."

"I know, I screwed up, I screwed up bad... I just couldn't take it anymore, I was so worried, and there were nightmares, Charles. I couldn't take it." Henry sobbed. Charles couldn't believe what he saw, there were ten cuts on his arms, five on each.

"Why didn't you tell me about this earlier? If I had known I would have helped out." Charles said.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know what to do, I didn't know if Ellie would still be alive! I couldn't take it anymore, Charles." Henry sat against the wall of the house, rolled his sleeves back down and sunk his head down, curling into a ball.

"I know it's hard, but you've gotta talk to people when you feel this way, okay, Henry?" Charles said. Henry looked up at his pal.

"I- You're right... next time, I'll talk to you or Ellie." Henry told him.

"Perfect! You can always count on me." Charles said optimistically. "Now it's been one hell of a day, so I say we should get some rest." Charles opened the door to their house as they walked inside. Henry went to Ellie's room to sleep for the night. He flopped on her bed, and looked at her nightstand.

A few days before they left to stop the Toppats, Henry made Ellie a picture frame of him with Ellie, on the back it read;

'To the greatest person I've ever met, every day of my life with you has been amazing. Every time I see you joy sparks within me, knowing that you love me as much as you do fills me with a happiness I can never express. Though I may not always be around, I hope you cherish the life we share together, and treasure it for as long as you live. I love you so much, Ellie Rose, and I'm glad I can live in peace with you: Henry Stickmin'

Henry was filled with happiness, he had spent hours making that for her, and seeing it beside him at that moment made him shed a tear. Knowing he had one thing to be happy about before he slept, for the first time in weeks, he shut his eyes.


	6. Chapter 6

Henry woke up to the sound of an alarm clock. He tilted his head at it, reach his hand out and pressed the button on it, silencing the devise. He stretched, getting out of the bed, before realizing a great relief. For the first time in over a week, he didn't wake up to more nightmares. Though he was relieved about that, and he did feel a lot better mentally, he still did miss Ellie a bit. Talking to her the day before helped with that part greatly, but he still missed living with her. He walked out of Ellie's room to see Charles already awake, for what seemed like a while.

"Oh, hey Henry. How'd you sleep?" Charles asked him.

"I actually managed to sleep, so that's already better, and I didn't have nightmares tormented me, so that's also better. Overall, I'd say good." Henry answered.

"Well that's good to hear. I made you some food, it's on the counter. Figured you were hungry." Charles said. He figured right, Henry already grabbed his plate of pancakes and took a bite out of it.

"This is pretty good." Henry said, cutting up another piece of his breakfast.

"Gee, thanks! I didn't know how well they turned out." Charles said with a sigh of relief. "Anyway, the general said he probably won't be calling me in anymore unless I want to. He understands what's going on, and he had me take out the Toppats twice now, and had me assist you in taking them out the first time. So I'll be around here more often now."

"That's good to hear, I kinda missed having you around, man." Henry told his pal.

"You know... now that I think about it, it's been way too long since we've just had a day to ourselves. Whaddya say?" The pilot asked.

"Sure thing, I could go for a break." Henry decided. "Maybe going around the city or something will get everything off my mind for a bit." He walked grabbed his jacket, walked out the door and took a breath of fresh air.

'Today's a new day, hopefully it'll be a better one, too.' Henry thought to himself. He actually really liked the idea of spending a day with Charles, he needed some way to decompress.

Henry and Charles didn't actually know where they wanted to go, they did decide, however, to go to the local cafe. Whenever Charles needed a break, he'd go for a warm cup of coffee, it helped relieve him, he never got why, but he always enjoyed it. They walked to the cafe as the Autumn winds breezed by them.

Henry was never much of a coffee person, but whenever his friends made him a mug, he'd always happily drank it.

When Henry stepped into the café, he was pretty impressed. He never went in before as he didn't really ever seek out a mug ever. It was small, but the place looked welcoming and everyone seemed happy to be there. Charles ordered a cup of coffee for each of them and then sat down at a table. A few minutes later, their cups arrived, and Henry took a sip.

"You and I should get coffee more often." Henry said with a chuckle. Charles was happy to hear this.

"Really? Man, whenever I need a break, this is my place. If you ever wanna tag along just let me know. I'd love to come here more often." Charles said.

Henry really missed the feeling of being relaxed and calm. Ever since Ellie's injuries at the Toppat Fortress, he's felt on edge, or mentally destroyed. Charles was right, he did need a way to calm down.

"So, where else do you want to go? I mean, we have a whole day to ourselves, man." Charles asked him. Henry looked out the window, taking some time to see what there was. While he was looking for something interesting, he heard his phone ring in his pocket.

"This is Henry, who is it?"

"It's me, Ellie." She said.

"Oh! Yeah, just give me a minute." Henry said. "Hey, Charles, you mind if I step out for a minute?"

"No problem! Just let me know when you're good to come back in." Charles replied with a smile.

"Alright, sorry about that. Charles and I were just having a drink and then you called, which isn't the issue at all! I just wanted to step out."

"That's cool, I understand. I just wanted to tell you that I'm fine now. I'm able to leave the hospital now."

"Didn't you say that it'll still take a few days before your legs heal again?" Henry asked, concerned for Ellie.

"Yeah, but I was told that as long as I take care that, I can leave. Besides, I know how much you miss me, Henry. I want to see you again."

"Thank you, you have no idea how much this means to me, Ellie." Henry said. "When do you think you'll be back?"

"It seems like I'll be back in about five hours, but I'll call you again later when I'm closer to our house, okay?"

"Got it. I'll be there as soon as possible." Henry replied.

"Alright, I'm going to end the call for now. I love you, Henry." Ellie said.

"I love you too, Ellie." Henry ended the call and walked back in, sitting beside Charles, taking a sip of his coffee.

"So, if I may, who called you?" Charles asked.

"Ellie, she's coming back today in roughly five hours she said." Henry replied.

"Oh, that's good. I'm assuming when she comes back you'll want to be with her. Which is fine, I don't mind, really. You deserve to see her again." Charles said.

"Thanks, you know, we still have a few hours, we can do whatever you want still." Henry told him, they walked out with their cups of coffee, walked around town, looking for a place to go. Henry saw the town hall, the same one he stole the Tunisian Diamond from.

'Ah, that brings back memories, I don't really know why I stole that diamond, though. I couldn't sell it or else people will find out I owned the Tunisian Diamond, and arrest me. I mean, now that my criminal record is gone, I might be able to, I still have it and the Romanian Ruby.' Henry thought, looking at the town hall and zoning out.

"Henry? You still in there?" Charles asked, trying to get the thief's attention.

"Huh? Oh, yeah sorry... seeing the town hall brought back memories. Do you remember Galeforce telling you I stole the Tunisian Diamond?" Henry asked. Charles chuckled.

"Yeah... I'll be honest, I'm surprised you pulled it off, man." Charles answered. They both laughed for a bit.

"Well, we have a lot of places to go." Henry said.


	7. Chapter 7

"It's getting pretty late, Ellie should be coming back soon. If you want to go back and see her you can. I'll probably just wander around town by myself for a while. Here's the keys." Charles told Henry after looking at his watch. Henry took the keys.

"Alright, and thanks for today, Charles, really got all that off my mind." Henry replied as he stood up, turned around and walked back home.

About twenty minutes later, Henry had finally gotten back home, and Ellie was there with a pair of crutches.

"There you are! I was waiting to see how long I'd be locked out!" Ellie said as she leaned the crutches against the wall and gave Henry a hug.

"I've missed you so much." Henry croaked out. "I'm just so glad you're back and we can live our lives with each other once again." Tears were forming in his eyes.

"I love you, Henry. I'll be fine now."

"I love you too, Ellie. I love you so much." Henry said as he broke the hug to unlock the door and take off his jacket. They then went to sit on the couch.

"Why were there crutches with you?" Henry asked.

"They're for if I'm walking for a really long time, my left leg still hasn't fully healed so I'm supposed to use them when I'm outside so I don't fall. Anyway, how have you been while I was gone?"

Henry was silent for a while.

He figured he's have to tell her eventually about the self-harm, but he really didn't want to worry her.

'I have to tell her, she's going to find out either way...' Henry thought. He was hesitant, but eventually he said something about it.

"Ellie, I need to tell you something." Henry showed Ellie all the cuts covering his arms. Ellie screamed when she saw them.

"Henry! Why? Why did you do this?"

"I'm sorry... I thought you were going to die, I missed you so much, I was having what I thought were anxiety attacks, I couldn't sleep because of the nightmares. Ellie, I wanted to die." Henry sobbed as he gave Ellie a hug, sinking his face onto her chest. "I saw your knife and, well, this happened... I'm so sorry." Ellie felt truly horrible. Henry was like this and she couldn't prevent it at all.

"Henry, you need to talk to someone." Ellie said firmly.

"I'm talking to you right now, you've always helped me with my issues."

"It's never been like this, though. Henry, I'm calling a professional for you." Ellie said.

"Please, I just want to be with you for a day at least." Henry begged as he tightened the hug. His lover sighed.

"Fine, but tomorrow we're getting an appointment set up for you, this isn't okay."

"I know it's not... I never thought it was. But I just couldn't deal with losing you. I know I've screwed up. It was just my horrible way of coping with everything until you were back." Henry said, as he continued to cry into Ellie's shoulder.

"It's going to be okay, Henry. We're going to get you the help you need. I don't want to see you like this either." Ellie told him.

"Thank you for everything, Ellie. You've really made my life better." Henry said, finally letting go of her. "You're right, I really should talk to someone about this, I should have a while ago."

"I'll get a meeting with a therapist arranged tomorrow, I promise you, it's going to be fine. I'll be fine, too." Ellie said, trying to comfort Henry.

"So, is there anywhere you wanna go? Maybe spend the evening together?" Henry asked her.

"I don't know, really, if you wanna go somewhere I'll totally join you, though."

"There is a nice little cafe in town, it's really nice there and we could each get a cup." He offered.

"Yeah, I'll go with that. I guess we can just go wherever you want. It doesn't matter to me, really." They grabbed their jackets and went out the door. On their way to the cafe, Ellie collapsed, causing Henry to worry.

"I'm fine, I just forgot my crutches is all. If you give me a few seconds I should be good to go again." Ellie said. Henry gave her a hand up and wrapped his arm around her.

"I don't want you falling like that again, I've got you this time." He said.

They continued walking to the cafe while the sun set and the winds blew by them. Henry missed these days, being with the people he loved, being happy and feeling supported was all he wanted. When they made it, Henry ordered two cups of coffee and a few doughnuts for them, they were both pretty hungry.

"Hey, I thought you didn't really like coffee..." Ellie said, seeming confused.

"Charles and I just came here a few hours ago, I mostly wanted to come here because I like it here. Plus, they make good doughnuts, and I know you like coffee more than Charles does, so I came here with you in mind." Henry answered.

"You... you came here for me? You know you don't have to, right?" Ellie asked as she sipped her coffee. Henry was right, she really did love coffee.

"I know, but tomorrow I have an appointment and I wanted to make you happy before that happened."

"You really are amazing, Henry. I could never ask for someone better." She said as she put her coffee down and gave Henry a hug.

The evening went on as Henry and Ellie savored it together. It was the first night they had together in almost two weeks. It eventually became night, and they decided to go back home before it got too dark. Henry made sure to keep his arm wrapped around Ellie the entire time so he would catch her if she fell down again. Eventually they got back home, and Henry opened the door.

"It's good to see you two again. It's almost eleven, where were you guys?" Charles asked.

"We went to a local cafe, we got some coffee and doughnuts. I don't know if you want any but we still have some left." Ellie said as she put the box on the table.

"Huh? Oh, not tonight probably, I was just staying up so I could at least say hi to you before you went to sleep, we have some catching up to do, so tomorrow you wanna chill together? The three of us?" Charles asked. Henry turned his head around, trying to avoid the situation.

"I'm... well, I..." Henry felt uncomfortable finishing his sentence.

"I basically made Henry contact a therapist. I'm not sure if you know how everything's been for him, but it's not pleasant. I'm trying to help him out." Ellie finished Henry's sentence for him.

"Yeah... that." Henry sighed.

"Oh, the cuts? Yeah... I should have gotten you help too. So I guess tomorrow's a write off, but the day after seems alright?" Charles asked them.

"Should be fine for me." Ellie said, Henry added a lifeless thumbs up.

"Alright, sounds good, I'm tired, so I'm gonna go to bed now. I'll see you two in the morning."

"Good night, Charles." Ellie said as the pilot went up the stairs. "So, Henry, you wanna sleep in my room tonight?" Henry nodded, the two went in her room and got in the bed.

"Good night, Ellie. I love you." Henry said.

"I love you too."


	8. Chapter 8

Ellie and Henry woke up to the sound of their alarm. Henry got out of bed and stretched, while Ellie shut off the alarm.

"Well, today you're going to get your therapy, it'll be alright." Ellie said.

"I hope so, I'm not really looking forward to it." Henry groaned.

"You'll be okay, Henry, if you want me to walk there with you I can."

"I just, I don't want to go." Henry sighed.

"It's not like we really have a choice here, Henry. What's happening isn't okay." Ellie told him. Henry opened the bedroom door and went to sit on the couch. To his surprise, Charles didn't seem to be awake yet.

"I just don't do well with talking to people I don't know, you know this, Ellie." He said.

"I know, but just remember that they're just going to help you. If you feel uncomfortable you can tell them." Ellie explained, trying to comfort Henry.

"Can you be there with me?" Henry asked.

"I'm not sure that's how that works, but if they let me then I will." Ellie answered as she gave Henry a hug.

"Thank you." Henry said as he got up and passed Ellie her jacket as he put his on. They went out the door and walked to the hospital. It took them about thirty minutes to get there, when they eventually did, Henry let out a sigh.

"It's going to be okay, Henry. We're helping you here." Ellie said as Henry gave her a hug.

"I know, and thank you for being here for me." Henry said. He walked into the building to find a man at the desk.

"Greetings! May I help you?" He asked.

"Um... yeah, the name's Henry Stickmin, I have a therapy session in a few minutes."

"Right, yes, go to room 317, your therapist will be there." The man said. Henry and Ellie went in the elevator. Ellie noticed that Henry seemed extremely nervous. She knew that Henry wasn't looking forward to it, but now she felt bad.

"I'm sorry." Ellie sighed.

"How come? You haven't done anything wrong." Henry asked.

"I didn't know you'd be so worried about this. I'm trying to help you but I feel like I just made it worse..." Ellie said.

"No, Ellie. It's fine, I'll talk to them." Henry said as the elevator door opened. They walked through the halls, trying to find the room.

"301, 303, 305, 307, 309, 311, 313, 315. Hey, Henry, there's 317." Ellie said as she knocked on the door.

"Come in!" The woman behind the door said. Henry and Ellie both walked in.

"You're Henry Stickmin, right?" Henry nodded. "And who's this woman you brought with you?"

"I'm his fiance, my name's Ellie Rose." She said as she leaned against the wall.

"I see, we're generally supposed to be talking with our clients individually, so I'm politely asking you to leave." The therapist said as Henry tilted his head down.

"Please, let her stay. I'm not very good at talking to people I don't know. Having her here with me will make me feel less alone." Henry asked the therapist.

"I suppose it should be fine. But if she starts causing any issues, then she'll be dismissed. Is this fair?"

"Yeah, that's fair." Ellie responded.

"Understood. To start off, I want to ask why you're here, Henry."

"Well, I've been having nightmares for the past few weeks about a near death experience someone I care for had, I thought they were going to die. Since that night, I've had nightmares each night about it. I know the person in question is fine, but the image still scars me. I kept waking up to the nightmares, and I didn't know what to do... it was all to much and I-I..." Henry couldn't finish his sentence.

"If I may..." Ellie added. "Henry's been cutting himself on the arms since that day. When I found out, I called you so we could schedule a meeting to fix this."

"I see... now Henry, have you been drinking any alcohol lately?" The therapist asked him.

"No..."

"Have you been taking any drugs?"

"No..."

"Have you felt suicidal or attempted suicide recently?"

"I-I... I have..."

"Have you been sexually active lately?" Henry looked surprised to hear this.

"What?"

"I believe I made it clear, have you been sexually active lately?" The therapist repeated.

"Yes, he has been..." Ellie said. Henry sunk his face down. Henry was not enjoying it, he understood that Ellie was trying to help him. However, being asked all these questions started to stress him out. He knew the therapist was trying to help him out, but he just felt uncomfortable. Eventually, it ended, and he was able to leave.

"You'll be needing your anti-depressants before you leave, Henry. You should take two a day. It might take a few months before you notice a change. I hope you start to feel better overtime." His therapist said. Henry gave a thumbs up as he walked through the door.

"Thank you, when I found out Henry was harming himself, I figured I'd get help for him as soon as possible. You've done so much for him and for me, and I thank you for that." Ellie told the therapist, as she walked out.

"So, how wa~" Ellie was interrupted by a hug.

"I hated it, it was horrible, Ellie. I felt more overwhelmed than ever. I know she was trying to help out, but it didn't work." Henry was crying. Ellie felt horrible. It was her idea to contact a therapist, but now knowing it didn't help at all made it feel like it was her fault.

"I'm sorry, I thought having a professional would help you... I'm so sorry, Henry."

"It's fine, just like you said it would be, but please. I don't want to go back there." He sobbed. They went in the elevator, and left the hospital to go back home.

"Hey, how'd it go?" Charles asked. Henry took off his jacket and walked up the stairs to his room.

"I don't want to talk about it." Henry said as he took one of his pills.

"It... went horribly. Henry was really nervous the entire time and he really didn't seem that okay when it ended. Overall, it went badly. I think the only good part is that Henry was able to get some medications for it."

"Oh... that's not good. You should probably go check on him." Charles sighed. Ellie went up the stairs and opened Henry's door.

"You okay, Henry? I know the therapy didn't go too well." Ellie asked.

"I don't know, I'm horrible at talking to people I don't know." Henry groaned. "I think the only reason I was able to manage is because you said some of the answers for me."

"I'm sorry I called them."

"No, it's fine. At least I have the anti-depressants. They should work." Henry said.

"You know, you could have told her you felt uncomfortable, right?" Ellie asked him.

"I don't know why I didn't. I just figured they knew what they were doing. I'm sorry." Ellie gave him a hug.

"It's okay, Henry. You can talk to me if you need to. I love you." Ellie said, leaning in to give him a kiss.

"I love you too, Ellie. Thank you."

"We should probably go see Charles. I haven't really seen him in a while." Ellie and Henry both went downstairs to see Charles.

"Hey, it's been a while since I've been with you two. How would you feel about catching up today instead?"


	9. Chapter 9

The three decided to finally have a day to themselves. The past few weeks have been stressful for Charles, boring for Ellie and destructive for Henry. They needed a break.

"So, what do you guys want to do? It's been a while since we've done anything together." Charles said.

"I don't know. It's up to you guys really. I gotta take my medicine, I'll be right back." Henry said as he searched frantically through the kitchen cupboards. "Guess I left them in my room. Uh, I'll be back..." Henry said as he ran up the stairs. Ellie was pretty confused, as Henry had just taken his medications. She knew something was up, but she didn't want to sounds rude to Henry.

"Something's not right with Henry, he just took his last one about an hour ago... I'll go check on him." Ellie said.

"I got it, you just got back, you don't need to worry about him so much, I can do this." Charles said, walking up the stairs to Henry's room. He knocked on the door.

"Henry, you good?" Charles asked. Henry sighed, but didn't respond. Ellie went up the stairs as well, and opened Henry's door.

"Alright, Henry, what's going on?" Ellie asked as she walked into Henry's room. Henry turned his back away from them in surprise and dropped the knife he was holding, exposing the freshly cut wounds on his arm. She counted at least five more, but his sleeves were rolled down so there were probably more. "Henry! I thought you said you were doing better!"

"I-I no... I just." Henry sighed. "I'm sorry, I don't want to do this, but it's just too much for me." He rolled down his sleeves fully to cover the wounds. Ellie was scared, she knew that he had to stop doing this but she didn't know what to do.

"You can't keep doing this Henry. If it's too much for you to handle, you can talk to either of us, we're almost always gonna be available." Charles said.

"If you ever need anything, just let us know. Okay, Henry? I love you, and even if I can't do everything, I'll do as much as I can." Ellie told her fiance.

"Thank you, I'm sorry I'm like this. I don't want to continue doing this." Henry cried as he gave Ellie a hug.

"We're here for you, Henry. No matter what happens. If you want some time to yourself, just let me know." The pilot said.

"I think I need some time to myself, yeah." Henry replied. Charles nodded and left the room.

"And by 'alone' you meant you wanted to talk to me, didn't you? What's up?" Ellie asked. Henry slightly chuckled.

"You can see right through me, can't you?" Henry asked.

"You don't do a good job hiding it, so it's pretty easy." Ellie joked. "Anyway, what did you want to tell me?"

"Well, you might not have remembered, but before we infiltrated the Toppat Fortress, I told you that I wanted to marry you, do you... still want to?"

"Of course I remembered, Henry. I was hoping we could after we took down the Toppats, but then all of this happened. I want to still, but not until you're feeling better. I don't want you being even more stressed, it's not healthy." Ellie said, giving Henry a hug.

"I love you, Ellie. Thank you for everything you've given me." Henry said as he let go of Ellie. They went downstairs to see Charles.

"Hey, what do you guys even want to do, anyway? I'll give you guys some time to decide, I'll go make us some food." Charles said as he reached in the fridge to grab some meat and cheese.

"I'm not really sure, I haven't really thought of it." Henry said.

"If you guys want to watch some movies or something we could totally do that." Ellie added. They both agreed with her and opted to watch a few movies.

Henry really missed this life, being with his best friend and his fiance, doing the things he enjoys with the ones he loved. It was all he ever wanted, to be happy.

"Thank you, both of you. My life has been truly wonderful with you both in it." Henry said, Ellie gave him a hug.

"No problem, man! You're a really great person too, and I'm glad to have met you." Charles responded with a smile. The day went on as the three had their long overdue reunion. Eventually, it became evening, and Charles offered to make dinner. Ellie went upstairs with Henry as he took his next pill.

"I'm sorry about earlier, Ellie. I don't want to hurt myself anymore. Now that you're back I have everything I need in my life again." Henry cried.

"It's okay, Henry. You'll be fine, I'm here for you." Ellie said as she hugged Henry. "You wanna go back downstairs now?" Henry nodded. The went back downstairs and continued watching the movie with Charles, as well as eat the food he made. 

The night went on and the three were about to go to bed before Ellie said something.

"Hey, Charles. Henry and I are probably going to get married soon. I want to wait until he's feeling better mentally, so it'll probably be in the Winter. I just wanted you to know because I figured you should be there." Ellie told him.

"Oh, congratulations, both of you! I'll be sure to be there! You're both great people and I'm glad you're both happy with each other!" Charles said.

"Thanks, Charles. You're a great friend as well." Henry added. Charles went upstairs and Henry went into Ellie's room with her. They lied down on her bed and Henry grabbed the picture frame on Ellie's nightstand.

"I remember making this for you, I remember being you being so happy when I made it. You started crying and gave me a hug, telling me that you'll always keep this with you." Henry said.

"It's because you made it for me, Henry. I love you."

"I love you too, Ellie Rose."


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is the last chapter of Living the Dream. I'll be honest I loved writing it. It's a shame that it's ending, and to all you one thousand people who read it, thank you. It's been a great journey!

Two months after Ellie left the hospital have come. Henry's mental state has been normal again and today was the day of their wedding. Henry had been waiting for this day, and it finally came.

"Do I look fine? Are any of my cuts still exposed?" Henry asked Charles. Henry wore a navy blue tuxedo with a deep blue accent.

"Relax, you look fine. Your sleeves are covering up the scars." Charles replied. "You'll be fine, not everyone has two hundred million dollars worth of jewels at their wedding." Charles suggested to Henry the idea of displaying the Tunisian Diamond and Romanian Ruby on pillars. It's not like he was really doing anything with them.

"To be fair, that was your idea." Henry sighed.

"To be fair, you stole both of them. In a few minutes you guys are going to walk out. You're gonna be okay, right?”

“Yeah, I'm just nervous.” Henry said.

“You'll be fine. It's your wedding. There's no need to be stressed or anything. If you need to talk to me about anything go ahead.” Charles replied.

“She's so amazing. Being here today about to marry her makes me so happy.” Henry said as he got up. Walking outside of the room he was currently in, entering the main hall. He saw Ellie, wearing a black dress with dark red and purple accents, with her bright red hair tied back. She looked absolutely gorgeous. Charles walked out with Henry, before taking a seat. Ellie couldn't help but notice the Tunisian Diamond and Romanian Ruby on display.

“We gather hear today to celebrate the unbreakable bond between Henry Stickmin and Ellie Rose. Ladies and gentlemen, may the love between these two people never end." The wedding organizer said. Henry and Ellie continued to walk closer to each other, until they were only a few feet apart. Henry looked to his right, and noticed a few people. He saw General Galeforce, Rupert Price and Dave Panpa.

"Do you, Henry Stickmin, take Ellie Rose to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do." Henry said with confidence.

"And do you, Ellie Rose, take Henry Stickmin to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do." Ellie answered.

"You may now kiss the bride." The wedding organizer said. Henry took a step forward, wrapped his arms around Ellie and gave her a comforting hug alongside a kiss. This day was truly the happiest either of them had ever felt. After what felt like hours, Henry finally broke the kiss, let go of Ellie, and took a step back.

Charles, while waiting for Henry and Ellie, decided to take some time to talk to General Galeforce.

"So, general, how's everything been going?" Charles asked him.

"Please, Charles, I appreciate the modesty, but right now I'm no general. I'm a proud friend, so please, call me Hubert." He replied.

"I may never get used to that." Charles sighed. "Either way, how's life been treating you?"

"It's been good, I'm very proud to see your friend's wedding." Hubert said.

"That's good to hear. Yeah, I'm glad to have them as friends and seeing them so happy together is wonderful." Charles added. Henry and Ellie both walked to them and took a seat.

"I can't believe you brought the Tunisian Diamond and Romanian Ruby here." Ellie said to Henry.

"It was Charles' idea, not mine." Henry said, before being hugged by Ellie.

"I love you, Henry. Thank you for being apart of my life and making it as amazing as you have." Ellie said.

"I love you too, Ellie." Henry said. "I'm gonna go grab some food, you want anything?"

"Not really, I might grab some later, though." Ellie replied. Henry nodded, walked over to the tables with food, and noticed a familiar face.

"Dave, is that you?" Henry asked. Dave, slightly startled, turned around.

"Oh, Henry! Hey there! Remember that time I gave you that package... at the penitentiary, and you escaped?" Dave asked. Henry laughed for a while.

"Yeah... sorry for getting you fired, I didn't think that would happen." Henry replied.

"Oh, no. It's fine, I got a new job, I got captured by the Toppats. You saved me from their prison. You're a really nice guy." Dave said.

"Thanks, man, you as well." Henry added, pouring himself a glass of wine. "You want any?"

"I can get my own glass, but thanks anyway. I'm proud of you man, you found a good partner." Dave said, pouring his own glass.

"Well, I'm going to go see my wife now. If you wanna come with me you can." Henry said with a smile. He walked over to Ellie and gave her a glass of wine.

"Hey, Henry. Now that you and Ellie are married, does that make you partners in crime?" Charles joked.

"There goes our happy ending." Henry sighed as he took a sip of his wine. Charles laughed.

"Seriously, though, I'm really proud. You two are amazing and it fills me with joy seeing you have a successful life. You deserve it, man."

"Thank you. Henry and I are so glad to have you supporting us whenever we need it, Charles." Ellie said as she drank more of her wine.

"I must say, Henry. You're a changed man. I'd be lying if I said seven months ago I'd look up to you as a strong, kind, powerful man. But you've earned my respect as both a general, and a friend." Hubert said.

"Thank you. You're a wonderful man, too." Henry replied. "So, about the diamond and ruby..." Galeforce sighed.

"I suppose you can keep them. We've pardoned you anyway, and with the mayor being a Toppat. I's not exactly easy to return it to its owner. So the jewels are yours."

"Today's the greatest day of my life. Being with the ones I love, marrying the most beautiful, most amazing person in the world. Being with you for months has made me a stronger person, Ellie." Henry told his spouse."

"Meeting you helped me escape The Wall, and since then, you've always treated me with respect. You're the most wonderful person ever, Henry." Ellie replied.

"It's been a wonderful time, being with you."

"So, what do you think our life together will be like?" Ellie asked him.

"I don't know, and that's okay. Every day being a new surprise, a new adventure. It excites me, Ellie. Knowing I get to spend it with you makes it wonderful. I could never ask for anything more." Henry answered. Ellie gave him a hug.

"I love you, Henry. You're the greatest man in the world."

"You're the greatest woman in the world, and I love you too, Ellie."

This was what they wished for, to be happy together. Always being there for each other, being loved, trusting the people they lived with. It made them happy. After months of struggle and pain, they were finally living the dream.


End file.
